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josiahdegraaf's reviews
1185 reviews
The Mask of Command by John Keegan
slow-paced
4.25
This wasn't my most careful read since I picked it up for research. But there were a lot of great insights about the nature of war and what effective military leadership looks like.
Rating: 3.5-4 Stars (Good).
Rating: 3.5-4 Stars (Good).
John Adams by David McCullough
5.0
A great bibliography that is both engaging and helped me to appreciate a president that I hadn't appreciated as much before reading it. McCullough gives a lot of great insight into who Adams was, and why he acted the way he acted, particularly in showing Adams' struggle with his own vices in the midst of the founding of our country. An entertaining read that sheds a great deal of light into this somewhat-obscure Founding Father.
4.5-5 stars.
4.5-5 stars.
Found by Margaret Peterson Haddix
4.0
Intriguing setup to a series that has a more sophisticated view of time than other popular books/movies. Also, some interesting couple lines on the intersection of science and faith.
Sent by Margaret Peterson Haddix
2.0
Seems a bit formulaic (thankfully, the other books in the series are not as much like it), but has some really interesting moments near the book's end.
Sabotaged by Margaret Peterson Haddix
2.0
A bit tedious for most of the book since there isn't much action or suspense, but we finally get a well-needed plot-twist at the end to keep the rest of the books in this series from sharing too-similar plots to each-other.
Torn by Margaret Peterson Haddix
3.0
More interesting and suspenseful than the previous two books in the series.
Caught by Margaret Peterson Haddix
4.0
This book is one of the best in the series after Found. There's a greater suspense in the plot, the historical character of Mileva Einstein is a fascinating character, and we have some interesting reflections of how the events of the series so far weigh on how much free will we really have. Haddix has had Christian references/themes before in this book and the other books, but we had some of the most interesting thoughts here, although they're rather short. With a lot of these books in The Missing series, the book depends a lot on how interesting the historical situation is. Caught portrays one of the most interesting situations so far, making it a strong addition to the series.
Risked by Margaret Peterson Haddix
3.0
Risked plays on the whole predestination/free-will debate more throughout the book, which was interesting, but the historical situation in this book isn't as great as it was in Caught. A fun, quick read with some interesting themes, but it still got bogged down a bit in the middle.